


Hyperaware of Hypothermia

by Cumberbatch Critter (CumberbatchCritter)



Series: Alvin and Jude - Their Epic Bromance [2]
Category: Tales of Xillia
Genre: Bromance, Cold, Cuddling, Gen, Hypothermia, Ice, M/M, Meant as friendship, Sharing Body Heat, but you can take it as slash if you'd like
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-05-12
Updated: 2014-05-12
Packaged: 2018-01-24 11:17:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,304
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1603199
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CumberbatchCritter/pseuds/Cumberbatch%20Critter
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>What if they'd gotten lost in Kukhar Ice Caverns and the cold started to get to be just a little too much?</p><p>Alternate take on the Kukhar Ice Caverns scene after The Battle of Fezebel Marsh; what if Jude had found Alvin alone instead of finding Alvin, Elize, and Teepo and the cold became <i>too </i>cold? Cue cuddles.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Hyperaware of Hypothermia

**Author's Note:**

> Maybe minor spoilers if you haven't gotten to this point in the game, but nothing too significant.

Consciousness swam back slowly, tucked somewhere deep between darkness and being too comfortable to try and move. But, somehow, it did. Slowly, and unassuredly, and it was a few, useless minutes before Jude could open his eyes. When he did, he saw only darkness, which was a conundrum in itself. But then he shifted a bit and the darkness tickled his nose and he realized that it wasn't darkness at all, but something blocking his vision.

He pulled away slightly, the black falling away from his face. A moment later, the realization finished forming: soft, black cashmere with an orange stripe. That was Alvin's scarf.

Jude pulled his head back a little more, feeling stiff and sore and increasingly more cold the more he moved. He realized that he was curled up against Alvin's chest, Alvin's coat draped awkwardly around them, and the warmth against his back wasn't from blankets or his bed, but Alvin's arms wrapped limply around him.

"... Alvin?" His voice cracked out loud in the silence of the cave, making him flinch and swallow. Nausea accompanied the words and he regretted waking up, but - no. He must have fallen asleep. He remembered walking, being cold... and then blackness. But, if he had fallen asleep... why did he wake up...? "Alvin...?"

The irrational, too-close-for-comfort part of Jude's mind wanted to squirm away, but the rational, medical part of his mind reminded him that Alvin's body heat was probably the only thing keeping him alive right now. No, not him. _Them_.

"Alvin!" he said louder, suddenly hyperaware that he didn't even know if Alvin was breathing. He couldn't find his hands through the tangle of fabric of Alvin's coat and scarf and their bodies, he was too numb, so he tilted his head a half degree to ascertain that, yes, _yes_ , that was Alvin's warm breath against his cheek. "Alvin!" he said again, shifting a bit. "Wake up!"

As though he hadn't been sleeping in the first place - and maybe he hadn't, Jude didn't know - Alvin jolted awake, his arms tightening around Jude in a way that almost hurt him from the applied pressure. "Jude...?" he asked, tilting his head down. His eyes lacked the usual spark they usually held.

"Alvin," he breathed, tilting his head away but not bringing himself to move, either. Alvin was warm, for all of the cold-blooded, heartless things he did. "... We've got to get warm..." he mumbled.

"Was trying to get you warm," Alvin muttered. His breath made Jude's hair move as the warmth puffed down towards him. "Think I didn't do so good."

"I woke up..." Jude mumbled, trying to sit up a bit. His strength was sapped. "... Where's Muzét...?"

"Sent her off looking for Maxwell... the others," Alvin mumbled, closing his eyes again. "Don't know how long she's been gone." He laughed, just then, just a slight puff of air and a chuckle. "What a way to go."

"We're not dying..." Jude muttered, putting as much conviction into his voice as he could. Conviction of will could change the most deadly of things, sometimes. He sat up slightly, as much as he could manage, pressing all available space of his side against Alvin's body. "M-Muzét'll be back soon," he mumbled. "And Milla... And Leia... And Elize and Rowen..."

Alvin's arms settled more comfortably - but still firmly - around his body, pulling him closer. "Oh... shut up, Jude. Just say we're mince meat."

"Pessimist," Jude muttered, unable to help himself from turning his head to bury his face against Alvin's neck. It was just... _right_ there and radiating warmth, and he felt Alvin jump when his cold nose wedged into the skin there. He knew it probably looked odd from any other angle, but... Alvin was _warm_. Warmish. Sharing body heat was natural in a situation like this.

"Do-gooder," Alvin muttered, falling silent before sucking in a deep breath and shifting uncomfortably. "It's probably not good when... things hurt from the cold. Damn it," he hissed.

It wasn't, but Jude didn't say so. Instead, he started fishing for something to fill the silence in the meantime and settled on the one thing it always came back around to: Alvin's loyalty.

"... D'you _want_ to work for Exodus...?" he mumbled.

Alvin's head tilted down. "That's..." He sighed. "... No..."

"But you have to... for your mom... right...?"

"He's the only one who gets the medication," Alvin mumbled. His voice sounded far-off. "But I don't think I can... both of us... not this way," he mumbled.

Jude thought he must have missed half of whatever Alvin had just said. "... What?"

"Isla..." Alvin muttered. "She-"

"Jude!"

Jude flinched, and so did Alvin, and Jude had to fight to find the strength to lift his head to stare out at the worried faces of Leia and Elize peering down at him.

"Wah-hey, Jude doesn't look so good. Alvin, you big meanie! What did you do to Jude!?"

Alvin was silent before he puffed another small laugh, not relinquishing his grip on Jude. "... Forcing him to... bond with me," he mumbled. "Not that anybody ever wants to."

"No, because you're a big, fat liar!"

"Teepo, step aside."

"'Step...?'" Alvin mumbled, although Jude was sure only he heard it.

"Allow me, Milla," Rowen's voice said.

There was silence, followed by a blast of heat that made Jude pry his tired eyes open again.

"Building a fire would be unwise so near the entrance, but with the fire arcane, we should be able to maintain a suitable temperature by warming these rocks nearby," Rowen explained. "Muzét, was it, explained that she did not have the strength to cast artes."

"So, we let Rowen take the heating initiative," Leia continued. "His elemental artes really come in handy in places like this."

"I am simply glad to be of service," Rowen replied.

"Nonsense," Milla said. "You've been a big help, Rowen. Now, from my understanding of popular fiction, everyone must take their clothing off so that we may be able to transfer heat more easily to Jude and Alvin."

Improbably, Jude's face still found it in himself to burn hot. Alvin gave something between a laugh and a sigh, while Leia hurriedly tried to explain that they wasn't actually how it worked.

In the end, they ended up sitting together, pressed as close together as they could to preserve the heat from the rocks that Rowen was heating. Feeling came back to Jude in short bursts, first to his fingers held both between Milla and Leia's palms, and gradually his toes and the rest of his body. It was probably the worst treatmeant method of hypothermia Jude had ever witnessed, but... stuck between a rock and a hard place, it had to work until they could deal with it later, in some more effective way. They had to have the strength to get out of here, first.

"Alvin...?"

"Hm?"

Jude was no longer curled against his chest, but a good portion of their sides were still pressed together for the shared warmth. "... Thanks," he mumbled. "You saved my life. Again."

"Yes," Milla added. "We owe you our thanks as well, Alvin. You protected Jude."

"Yeah, thanks, Alvin."

"We are in your debt."

"Jude, did he really save you...?"

"I bet he was trying to suck all the warmth from him, the big meanie!"

Alvin laughed, a little more emotion to the sound than previously. "Yeah. I was trying to drain poor, little Jude of all his body's warmth."

"I _knew_ it!"

Jude laughed, too, then, pressing his shoulder more firmly against Alvin's. It was unconscious, but, for right now, at least, he felt completely comfortable with the mercenary.

Yet remained to be seen was how that changed, and if.

Jude knew that Alvin belonged on their side; it was just a matter of making Alvin see it, too.

**Author's Note:**

> It got in my head after I saw the battle victory scene where all three of the characters were talking about how cold it was. (Honestly, how do the women in this game survive in the cold? Especially Presa, but she just struts about Xailen Woods Temple like it's nothing. -.-) So, I took it out on Jude and Alvin, because I love Alvin and Jude has to be where Alvin is!
> 
> I do not own _Tales of Xillia_. All rights belong to their owners. Thanks for reading!


End file.
